Beyond your crowdfunding for athletes and sponsorship opportunities, grants are great sources of funding for athletes. There are a variety of different organizations and foundations in Canada that give grants for athletes. Each grant has a different process or application that you will have to fill out or apply. bursary or grant also has a different application that you will have to fill out. I'd highly recommend that you go through all the bursaries or grants that are applicable for you and pick out the common things that you will have to fill out. Next make sure that you put work on those you should also try to collaborate with your parents and coaches. Next,fill out the application but modify the content to the specific bursary program.

Below is a list of bursary programs that you can apply to.

St. John Jeux Canada Games Foundation

This is the only grant/bursary (to my knowledge) that is offering financial support for athletes who are not yet carded (funded by the government). This is a great opportunity for all up and coming athletes who have potential to be the best in the country. This bursary/grant program also offers funds for coaches. How awesome is that!

- Spring And Summer program Applications must be submitted the first Monday in March.

- Fall and WinterProgram Application must be receive by the first Monday in September.

For athletes:

2000$ - athletes who are in the top ten nationally

1000$ - athletes with good national results

500$ - athletes with fair national results

For coaches :

1500$ - National level coaches

1000$ - provincial level coaches

500$ - club coaches

Petro Canada Fueling athletes and families

Petro Canada is a great supporter of amateur athletes and their coaches and families. This is a great bursary/grant program because reflects the fact that athletes must be in a good environment to flourish. There are two types of bursaries:

1. F ueling Athletes and Coaches Excellence - This bursary offers 500,000$ to 50 coach-athlete pairs giving 10,000$ per duo.

2. Canadian AthleteFamily Program - Petro Canada also offers the Canadian Athlete Family program which is a program that helps the families of athletes travel to Rio to watch their athletes compete.

Team Investor Group Amateur Athletes fund

The Investor Group is another corporation that cares for the amateur athlete. In collaboration, AthleteCan, this fund awards 20 bursaries of 5,000$ each year.

Check out all the criteria to apply for this fund here.

Canadian Athlete Assistance program

The Canadian Athlete Assistance Program (AAP) is government funding that goes to the National Sport Organizations (NSO) who then have a criteria to select the top 16 athletes worthy of receiving this funding. This assistance program gives a senior athlete 1500$/month and a development athlete 900$/month. To learn more about this funding opportunity for athletes head to your national sport website.

Athlete Excellence Fund

The Athlete Excellence Fund gives Olympic Medalists 20,000$, 15,000$, or 10,000$ for Gold, Silver or bronze respectively. Also, it gives 5,000$ during the non-olympic years to help with training and competing.

CAN Fund

CAN Fund is another fantastic organization that is working tramendously hard for athletes in Canada. This program offers 2 applications per year, one in the summery and one in the winter. National level - carded athletes are eligible to receive up to 12,000$ per year (6,000$ per season). This funding is above the regular carding funding which allows athletes to cover more of their expenses such as medical and travel. Since 2003 CAN Fund has raised over $22 million for Canadian athletes. To apply or to learn more click here.

Cover image credit: Olympic.ca